D2L Fusion 2011; Reflection by Vinnie
My overall thoughts on the conference were that it was all right. I didn’t learn as much as I was hoping for, I was expecting the breakout sessions to be more detailed. I came away with a few things to check out and explore as well as some contacts.
I attended a session on Kaltura that I enjoyed and received good information. The University of Wisconsin has been using Kaltura for the past several months at their campus. They have also adopted Media Space which allows instructors and students to upload videos.
Problems student and instructor created videos
- Closed captioning
- Playback
- Copyright/ Fair use
- Best Practices
- Privacy
- Quality
Problem with Kaltura use
- Wi-Fi uploads problematic and Safari has issues
- Ability to upload larger files (2gb)
- User interface for Media space is clunky
- Deeper integration with D2L (embed code.) D2l has plans to make it click of a button
- More privacy – Certain people to see it
- Easier editing.
The overall feedback from students and instructors is that they loved it, it played well, but they didn’t like being forced to use the embed code.
The other session I attended was Showcase Desire2Learn Training to get feedback on D2L from instructors and students. This session was presented from multiple different schools including Prairie state college, University of Wisconsin, and Colorado Community College System.
Students and instructors would like to see email on their Blackberry. The tools students use the most are content, grades, Dropbox and Discussions. The tools instructors use the most are content, grades, email, Dropbox and News item. The least effective tool for both instructors and students are chat, locker, and the checklist. Majority of the students don’t know what the locker is and never used it. When students would send chats to other students, they didn’t notice they received a chat. It was helpful to receive information from Instructors and students as we approach our training.
I am happy I was able to come away with some contacts that will be useful for Kaltura.
Vinnie
